One such example of the scam has seen a 66-year-old from Cardiff conned out of hundreds of pounds in cash. A ‘Detective Sergeant’ told the victim that the police were holding a man in custody who was one of the UK’s biggest fraudsters. This man was allegedly in possession of the victim’s bank cards and a map of their home.

Despite initial suspicion from the victim they ended up handing over hundreds of pounds in cash to the scammer for ‘forensic examination’ in what they believed was an attempt to clear their name of any wrong-doing.

This is similar to a scam that we reported last year taking place across the UK, in which scammers were calling local businesses posing as police officers to encourage them to make a donation to a local community cause that they’d allegedly supported in the past, proving that scammers aren’t just targeting the elderly and vulnerable amongst us.

To help minimise the risk of being a victim to this type of phone scam, always remember the following:

- Try to obtain details of the caller including their name, the police force they work for, rank, collar number and station

- Never provide any details of bank cards or other financial information over the phone to an unknown caller